Chuck Sweeny: Gov. Pat Quinn’s ‘sky is falling’ rhetoric doesn’t play

Saturday

Mar 29, 2014 at 4:00 PM

‘Let’s see, today the governor proposed to make the temporary tax permanent. The speaker proposed a millionaires tax, another senator proposed the progressive tax, a state representative proposed a graduated tax, another senator proposed a tax on soda pop. Apparently they just can’t get enough of your money. Had enough yet?” So wrote state Sen. Tim Bivins, R-Dixon, on his Facebook page after Gov. Pat Quinn delivered his budget speech Wednesday.

“What Illinois doesn’t need, and hardworking taxpayers can’t afford, is another tax increase. What we do need is comprehensive tax reform that focuses on tax relief for working families and small businesses to help create jobs and get our economy back on track.” So wrote state Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Freeport, in his weekly Journal-Standard column.

“We can balance the budget without more tax increases, if we create a growth economy and restructure and reform our broken government,” said Bruce Rauner, the Republican nominee for governor, on NBC 5, Chicago.

The Democratic governor laid out a dire assessment of the state’s financial condition in his budget speech and concluded that the only way out of it is to make his “temporary” 67 percent income tax increase permanent. The 5 percent income tax is scheduled to go down to 3.75 percent in 2015, and Quinn warned if that happens, “radical and severe” service cuts would be made, including 13,000 teachers getting the axe. Similar cuts would take place in other agencies, he said.

House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton both support Quinn’s plan, so it probably is a done deal. In return, Quinn would send property taxpayers a check of $500 each year, regardless of how much a property owner pays. However, the 5 percent property tax deduction would disappear.

Madigan’s “millionaire’s tax” would, if passed by the General Assembly, go to voters in November. It would slap a 3 percent tax surcharge on incomes over $1 million, affecting from 13,000 to 14,000 Illinoisans and adding $1 billion to the K-12 education fund. Madigan also wants to make Downstate school districts’ taxpayers pay for their share of teacher pensions.

And then there’s the push for a graduated income tax to replace Illinois’ flat tax. If this passes the General Assembly by a three-fifths majority, the question would go to voters Nov. 4. It is unlikely to pass the legislature, though, because all Democrats in the House would have to vote yes, and Rep. Jack Franks, D- Woodstock, has promised to vote no.

Stewart said Friday he’s “absolutely opposed” to Quinn’s proposal and to increased taxation of any sort. “Temporary ought to mean temporary.”

Whatever one’s political persuasion, Stewart said, “people in Illinois are pretty fed up with additional taxes. What we need is a stronger economy and a job plan,” Stewart said.

“Look back to a few years ago. The governor told us the whole premise of the temporary tax increase was to pay bills down, get on a strong footing. Since then we’ve collected more than $30 billion, and we’re $127 billion in debt and have $7 billion in bills.”

“Government needs to live within its means,” Stewart concluded.

Chuck Sweeny: 815-987-1366; csweeny@rrstar.com; @chucksweeny

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